The owner of two rare dogs continues his frantic search for his companions after they went missing from his farm southwest of Okotoks while he was home earlier this month. Michael Lacey said he had fed year-old Karelian bear dogs Aspen and Willow at noon on May 6, went into the house and when he returned 45 minutes later they were gone. “I haven’t seen them since,” he said. “It torments me. It’s all I think about. I’m always looking everywhere whether it’s in town or in the countryside. I dream about them every night.” Although the dogs weren’t locked up on his property, Lacey said they have never run away. He’s had the dogs since they were eight weeks old. “I’ve been looking for this breed for a long time,” he said. “We have a lot of bears come on our property so they help keep the bears away, but for the most part I just love the breed.” Lacey said he suspects Aspen and Willow were taken from his property as he didn’t hear them barking, which they did when there was wildlife on his property. He added that they were friendly with people. The dogs are worth more than $1,000, making them a possible target for theft, Lacey said. Determined to find his companions, Lacey searched the bush on his property with a tracking dog and had someone fly drones around his property looking for the black and white canines. He also posted information on social media, which has been shared across Canada, and put posters up around the MD offering a reward. On his poster, Lacey states he will not pursue legal action and asks that the perpetrators drop the dogs off at his gate and drive away. “I’m getting a lot of messages of support from people, but also leads,” he said. “Someone thought she saw the dogs being walked yesterday in Tofino. I’m following every single lead. Eventually somebody will spot those dogs, whether it’s a neighbor or somebody’s friend.” Black Diamond resident Wanda Weeres also had a dog go missing. Her Siberian husky, Bory, and her father-in-law’s akita, Brody, disappeared last fall after the dogs were let loose to play for a few minutes on her father-in-law’s property west of Longview. The dogs are worth more than $1,000 and Bory has an ear tattoo. “We always took them down to the farm, since he was a pup,” said Weeres. Weeres and her husband Darcy Wallator went door to door, looking for the dogs in the Longview area and Eden Valley, but got no leads. “We searched farmers’ fields and walked for days,” she said. “They just vanished. It’s terrible.” The couple put up posters and announced the missing dogs on social media. Shortly after, they were scammed out of hundreds of dollars when someone claimed to have the dogs and asked that they send a portion of the reward ahead of time. After the culprit received the money, the contact number was no longer in service. Although frustrated by the scam, Weeres said she’s more upset over her missing three-year-old pet. “I miss him a lot,” she said. “I’ve still got his beds and toys. I’m thinking they’re going to come home.” Weeres said she can’t help but worry about the fate of Bory and Brody. “I don’t know where they are or what they’re doing with the dogs,” she said of the alleged thieves. “Are they in dog fights, because you hear about them, or did they sell them?” Rhonda Taylor, who lives between Okotoks and High River, thinks the three mixed breed dogs that went missing from her acreage the past year and a half were taken for dog fighting purposes. “I think they’re now out of province to dog fight - just the rumours I’ve heard about the type of dogs they take,” she said. “It’s not nice to think your pet is going to be used in a battle or killed or used as bait.” Taylor said the first dog went missing a year and a half ago, the second two days later and the third three weeks ago. All three belonged to her son and they’ve put pictures of the missing dogs on social media in hopes to locate them. “The dogs were not running loose, they were penned up,” she said. “It’s really maddening.” In 2018, the Okotoks RCMP have received no reports of missing dogs and the only incident reported to the Turner Valley detachment this year was by Lacey.
